


One Moment Too Late

by KatLeePT



Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 19:12:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4191639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatLeePT/pseuds/KatLeePT
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If only he hadn't waited for the right moment . . .</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Moment Too Late

He stares at the headstone through a sea of tears. He can't believe this day has come. He thought it would never happen. He thought no one could fell the seemingly immortal Superman. He thought his only weakness was kryptonite, and so as a lad, had struggled to secure every trace amount of the alien rock he could find. He'd thought he could one day find the answers he sought in studying the rock, but they were only rocks in the end. They hadn't been able to answer his questions, or to warn him that this day would come.  
  
In the cold, he kneels before the grave. He knows his body is not there. The ceremony used a closed casket, and it's a fact made well known by the news that his body was destroyed in his final battle. Lex's fingers clench around the small, hard object in his pocket, the object he had been trying to deploy for years now and yet would never see its intended destination. If the Justice League hadn't already "accidentally" killed that particular villain, he wouldn't rest until the monster breathed his last inside his own hands.  
  
He looks down at those hands, shaking his head. They've worked for years, but for what? Clark never understood he was trying to help make the world a better place. He never understood that his best intentions were all for his protection and for the protection of those he loved. He never understood how he really felt, and now he never will.  
  
Lex brings the small box out of his pocket and pops it open one final time. He looks at the gold band through his tears. It no longer seems to shine. The day is dark, and so is the ring. It's been raining for hours, but Lex doesn't care that he's soaked through to his bones. Perhaps he'll catch pneumonia and die. At any rate, it seems that even the Angels are crying for their downed hero.  
  
He looks up again and traces the letters of Superman's name in the headstone. He aches to build one not for Superman but for Clark, for the real hero behind the face the whole world loved, but Clark never chose to reveal his secret to more than just a very few of their childhood friends. Lex will keep that secret as he does the secret of his love, although he now wishes he could pour out the latter.  
  
He shakes his head once more, thinking to himself of what a miserable failure he has become. It doesn't matter that he's the wealthiest man in the world or that he has the power to save or destroy a million lives with the single touch of a button back in his office. Nothing matters now except for the fool he's been. He spent their lives waiting until Clark would accept him, waiting until Clark could look pass his wicked deeds to see how much he truly loves him, waiting for that kairos in time when he could ask Clark to marry him and would actually accept his love.  
  
Now Lex's most treasured dreams will never happen. He'll never get to slide his ring onto Clark's finger. He'll never get to hold Superman's hand. He'll never get to tell the man he loves him just how much he always has loved him, since they were kids. He'll never even get to see him again.  
  
The rain increases as does Lex's tears. He closes the little, velvet box and sits it on Clark's monumental grave next to his headstone. The rain will destroy the velvet and the silk lining. It might even wash the ring away into the dirt. But it doesn't matter. Nothing matters any longer.  
  
Lex rises and walks away, never hearing the small, hushed voice crying out, "Oh, Lex!" If only he'd known.  
  
The End

 

**Author's Note:**

> All characters within belong to DC Comics, not the author, and are used without permission.


End file.
